ESPN’s College GameDay will make the trek to College Station as Texas A&M hosts Notre Dame Week 1, the show announced on Twitter.
It’s a new era for the Aggies as the program welcomed in Mike Elko as the new head coach. After a successful tenure at Duke, he’ll attempt to unlock the magic in Aggie Land.
As far as Notre Dame is concerned, Marcus Freeman goes into Year 3 as a head coach and the Fighting Irish are poised for a playoff run in 2024.
Notre Dame announced the kickoff time as well: set for 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC on the road.
So it’s a new era for Texas A&M, which is one of the more intriguing storylines in the SEC. On a recent episode of Andy Staples On3, Billy Liucci of TexAgs joined the show. He explained to Staples why he believes the difference will lead to success for the Aggies during Elko’s first season with the program.
“Billy, I wanted to talk to you because it feels like it’s been very quiet in College Station,” Staples prefaced. “And I feel like recent off-seasons have been more loud in conversation, so like what is it about Mike Elko’s first offseason that has caused, I don’t know — a lack of drama, versus what we saw under Jimbo Fisher the last few years.”
Evidently, Liucci believes the dearth of storylines surrounding Texas A&M fits Elko’s style, and that’s exactly what Texas A&M needed entering the 2024 campaign.
“It kind of fits with how (Mike Elko) does things,” Liucci started. “It kind of fits, in that he’s very much in control of every aspect of the program, and I mean that in a good way, not a, ‘I’m the only micromanager’ way. It’s just very, very organized, very in control. An entire staff on the same page. And I think when you have that, and and I think a noticeable level of discipline changed.
“Not just when you watch practices, but in the day to day operation of the program, and I think even within the staff. … I think the players, from them coming in here, just me talking to him and then like you said, the lack of storylines in the offseason, it’s actually a sign of a good thing.”
Texas A&M could surprise some based on what Elko’s done in the past. All eyes will surely be on the Aggies when they take on Notre Dame in September.